Terminology for Library Peeps – A TTW Guest Post by Valarie Kingsland

Since beginning SLIS classes, I’ve become curious about the labels librarians use for people who use the library or its services. When the issue came up again this semester, I set up an informal poll to get some feedback. I appreciate everyone who shared it, voted and left comments! You may view it online, but here is a summary of the results.

It would have been ideal to ask people using libraries as @infointuitivesuggested, rather than library students and professionals, but I didn’t have access to that kind of audience. So I decided to include background information in the poll to get an idea of who took the poll, even though it meant shortening the options and allowing voters to choose more than one answer. As of December 11st, 494 votes were cast from unique IP addresses.

What should we call people who go to the library and/or take advantage of library services? (494 voters)

I appreciated the comments that reflected that the labels we use are contextual. Terminology we use may depend on; the institutional or community tradition; the type of library we are in; to whom we are speaking, both inside and outside our institutions; specific library activities and services; and how we intend to relate to the individuals and identifiable groups in our community.

Does It Matter? Yes, it’s an old conversation with no clear solution for all, but my concern centers on what the label used means to our communities and less with what it means to librarians because labels are powerful. Ultimately, I don’t want to exclude anyone because they don’t identify with the terminology I am using. So, I will take my cue from others in the field and choose my terminology according to the context while keeping in mind who I am talking to and who I am talking about.

Valarie Kingsland is a Circle of Learning scholar at San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science and lives in Seward, Alaska. She believes in the transformative power of libraries and their contribution to community development. Valarie’s interests include emerging technology, information literacies, participatory services, the integration of Libraries, Archives and Museums, and Indigenous information institutions. You may join her on twitter at @valarie907.

I find it very interesting that when we ask library staff we get answers that are often the opposite of when we ask library cardholders.
Joan Frye Williams did a survey and they overwhelmingly preferred member. Is it just that we’re change averse in language too or we aren’t focused on their needs as we say we are?
Here’s a quick link:http://www.bohyunkim.net/blog/archives/1885
Stephen

It would be interesting to know the responses of each of the groups you mention, Stephen. We have disagreement between branch library staffs–one library calls uses customers, the rest call them patrons. And wouldn’t it seem that those who use the library should get to name themselves? I’ve just tweeted the question–let’s see if anyone replies.